Justice apparently put on her reading glasses and saw fit to excuse gay graffito Manuel Castro who spray painted “Tastes Like Hate” on the side of a Chick-fil-A in Torrance a few weeks ago.
Castro defended his actions as an attempt to “further a discussion about tolerance and acceptance” after the fast food chain’s president Dan Cathy publicly denounced same-sex marriage.
L.A. County’s district attorney decided not to press charges, explaining in its letter rejecting prosecution:
“The suspect has acknowledged his wrongdoing and offered to make restitution. Finally, the record does not establish the suspect was motivated by religious hatred.”
So all’s well that ends well. Chick-fil-A got a (temporary) face-lift for free — except for the $700 it took to repaint but that’s neither here nor there — and Manuel Castro got this lovely commemorative mug shot that basically says, “So what, I’ll do it again.”
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Photos: Sandy Mazza / Daily Breeze; Torrance Police Department
nwilsontaylor
Looks like hate. After all, aren’t people – Dan Cathy in this scenario – allowed to have their own opinions? Or has freedom of speech suddenly been outlawed. If Dan Cathy scribbled on Manuel Castro’s place of business the uncalled for emotional fury would have been unleashed across the nation.
Brandon
That analogy doesn’t really work. Is Manuel Castro giving money to an organization that is promoting a bill to kill people like Dan Cathy? Does Manuel Castro own a national company?
It would have unleashed fury because it would have been a corporation picking on a single person. Dan Cathy has the right to her opinions, but Chick-fil-A isn’t a person, companies are not people, despite what Mitt Romney says. They aren’t charging him, because it would have given his message more attention, and the last thing they want is to draw the ire of even more people.
His move WAS AN EXPRESSION OF FREE SPEECH, it doesn’t just work in the way you want it to.
It was vandalism yes, but was it hate? No. I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. 🙂
Brandon
@nwilsontaylor: If Dan Cathy got out of his limousine and sprayed “Vandal” on Manuel’s house, would THAT be hate? No! It’s a true statement. It’s not hate, it is vandalism.